2 convicted of killing Pittsburg police officer

2007-08-13 14:32:00 PDT MARTINEZ -- Two men were convicted of first-degree murder today for killing a respected Pittsburg police officer in 2005 while trying to escape arrest after robbing a bank inside a supermarket.

Alexander Hamilton, 20, faces the death penalty and Andrew Moffett, 20, could spend the rest of his life in prison for killing Officer Larry Lasater, 35, after they robbed a Wells Fargo branch in a Raley's supermarket at Loveridge and Buchanan roads in Pittsburg.

Hamilton and Moffett did not visibly react when the verdict was read today, but Moffett's mother began sobbing and later stalked out of the courtroom, stomping her feet and saying, "My son didn't kill nobody!"

The jury deliberated for about two days after a trial in the Martinez courtroom of Contra Costa County Superior Court Judge Laurel Brady.

Lasater's mother, Phyllis Loya, today thanked jurors for their "hard work and attention."

"I want to thank everyone who supported our family in this difficult time," she said. She singled out the two recipients of her son's heart and kidney.

Moffett, who uttered an expletive as he was led out of court today, will be sentenced Oct. 12.

During the penalty phase, jurors will determine whether Hamilton will be sentenced to death or life in prison without parole. Moffett is not eligible for the death penalty because he was 17 when he committed the crimes.

Hamilton and Moffett were each convicted of first-degree murder, three counts of robbery for the bank heist, and auto theft. Hamilton was also convicted of two counts of attempted murder for firing two shots at two other police officers.

Additionally, both men were found guilty of special circumstances for murdering a police officer and committing murder during the commission of a robbery; they were also convicted of weapons enhancements. Hamilton was additionally found guilty of the special circumstance of lying in wait.

Hamilton shot the officer in the neck after he and Moffett crashed a stolen getaway car on a nearby lawn and hid on the wooded Delta de Anza Regional Trail.

Lasater, a three-year department employee, came across Moffett in a field but didn't see Hamilton lying in the brush, armed with a 9mm Glock semiautomatic pistol, prosecutor Jewett told jurors during the trial.

Hamilton fired four shots, with the first hitting the officer in the left side of his neck, the prosecutor said.

Hamilton's attorney, Kim Kupferer, had told jurors that her client admitted to the killing but was not lying in wait. Hamilton opened fire because he was simply tired of running and did not try to kill other officers when he fired more shots, Kupferer said.

Moffett's attorney, Byron Thompson, urged jurors not to automatically convict his client simply because the other defendant was admitting to crimes.

Police arrested Hamilton and recovered his Glock shortly after the shooting. Moffett was found hiding nearby. Two plastic grocery bags containing the stolen bank money and Moffett's black shirt were found in a garbage bin, and Moffett's 9mm semiautomatic Lorcin pistol was found buried in a flower pot in a nearby yard, Jewett said.

Lasater's slaying devastated his department, which only two years earlier had faced the death of Inspector Ray Giacomelli, who was gunned down while investigating a homicide. Lasater's own father, who was not in law enforcement, was murdered when Larry Lasater was 3.

Lasater was declared brain-dead the day after the shooting. He was kept on life support for more than a day so his organs could be donated. Lasater's heart was donated to Lloyd Burton, a retired Redding contractor.

Lasater was a former Marine captain who commanded tanks. His son, Cody, was born two months after his father was killed.